Centering device



2 Sheets-Sheet Dec. 6, 1932. P. w. HAYwooD CENTERING DEVICE Filed Aug. 8, 1930 Dec. 6, 1932.

P. w. HAYwooD 1,889,986

GENTERING DEVICE Filed Aug. 8, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet A2 I r11/eh tor. Percy Wfl/121m fla/wood.

Patented Dec. 6, 1932 UNTED STATES PATENT oFFlce PEBCY WILLIAM HAYWOOD, OF TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, ASSIGNOR TO INTER- NATIONAL SILVER COMPANY F CANADA, LIMlTED, `CIF HAMILTON, ONTARIO,

CANADA CENTERING DEVCE Application led August 8, 19739. Serial No. 474,032.

The principal objects of theinventionare to provide a device, particularly applicable to the manufacture of metal cups, vases and like articles, which will accurately assemble and hold the various parts of thearticle while they are being permanently secured, effecting a considerable saving in time and labor and ensuring uniformity in the articles being producedt The principal features of the invention consist in the novel construction of a turntable for holding the main portion of the article being assembled whereby a pluralityv of pins radially movable are operated in unison and with equal movements toward or from the centre of the table, and in the novel construction and arrangement of a frame and a member adjustably mounted axially above the table whereby parts may be assembled on the main portion of the article in true axial position.

A further important feature of the invention consists in the novel construction of an attachment for the axially adjustable member whereby a plurality of parts may be placed and held in position for attachment to the main member centred and held on the turntable. l

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is an-elevational view of the centering device illustrating the manner of using same in assembling a pair of axially arranged members tovbe permanently connected.

lFigure 2 is a plan view of the device.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the under plate of the turntable.

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional viewvof the turntable and base taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional detail of the contact end of the adjustable axial centering member.

Figure 5 is a plan view of a modified form of turntable having four equally spaced centering pins.

Figure 7 is a plan view of a further modiiied form of turntable having two pairs of centering pins spaced for Vholding elliptical forms of articles.

Figure 8 is an enlarged-plan detail offzjig for holding a plurality of parts to be assembled ona main member.

Figure L9 is an elevational part sectional view of the jig shown in Figure 8 taken 0n the line 9-9 and showing part of the axial holder and theturntable supporting a part to which the several members held-by the jig are to be attached.

Figure 10 is a plan view of a modiiied form of jig for use in placing parts on elliptical structures.

Figure 11 is a small plan view of a yholder used with the jig shown in Figure 10.

Figure l2 is a view similar to Figure l illustrating the use ofthe' device in accurately positioning a plurality of parts.

ln the art of making silver, pewter and othermetal dishes, cups and other utensils, it is the practice to form various parts and then assemble and. permanently secure such parts l together and it is customary to place the main part Aupon a turntable and while being rotated, the member is tapped into a substantially central positionso that the supplementary parts may be axially assembled and soldered while the table is rotatedr to heat the metal uniformly and flow the solder ina neat joint completely therearound. VThe turntable also enables the ready placing of smallparts such as feet or handles in position. H

This 'ordinary practice requires consideraL ble skill and even with the most skillful considerable time is wasted in the centering 'Yoperation.v

It is the purpose of this invention to eliminate this non-productive waste andto enable the operator` to almost instantaneously and without the exercise of skill, placethe parts in a perfectly central position on theturntable-and then proceed with thesoldring operation.

In the form of the device herein shown ,the base l has a boss 2 formedcentrally'thereof which is bored vertically to forma bearingA 3 to 'receive a stud 4c on which `the lower plate 5 of the turntable is axially mounted. A.' centre ball-bearing 6 is preferably arrang'edfat thevbottom ofthe bearing 3. u i' Aplurality of radial'slots 7 are formedin the plate 5 and guide slots 8 are arranged beneath same to slidably support the blocks 9 which carry the vertical pins 10.

A plate 11 is rotatably mounted on a centre stud 12 on the plate 5 and the outer edge of the plate 11 is provided with a shallow contact iange -13 to steady the plate 11 and permit its easy rotation on the plate 5.

Arc-shaped slots 14, arranged in involute form to cross over the radial slots 7 ,inthe plate, are cut through the plate 11 and the pins 10, which eXtendtherethrough are provided with rollers 15 to form rolling contacts with the walls of said slots 14.

It will be seen that by rotating the plate 11 upon the plate 5, or by rotating the plates in 4opposite directions, the involute slots 14 will move across the-slots 7 from their inner -to theirv outer ends or vice versa and this movement slides the pins radially inward and outward in unison. triple arrangement of slotsand pins is shown and in Figure 6 four slots are arranged in diametrically opposite pairs. In Figure 7, however, the radial slots are placed-in pairs set at an angle of about 30o and the involute slots are arranged accordingly. These modified constructions will be useful for handling forms of articles other than circular as will be hereinafter explained.

:By rotating the turntable plates in opposite directions the pins 10-are moved outwardly to permit the article Ato be centred, being placed loosely therebetween and the reverse movement moves .the pins inwardly simultaneously and the article is immediately pushed into a perfectly centralized position and held.

A pair of standards extend vertically upward from opposite sides of the base and a cross bar 16 is slidably mounted thereon, it beingheld in any desired position above the base by suitable clamping members 17. -A central boss 18 on the cross bar is bored vertically to slidably support a rod 19 which is preferably supported by a spring 20 carried on a support 21 the latter being adjustable in length to provide for varying the spring tension.

The lower end of the rod 19 has mounted on ball bearings a centering block 22 which is adapted to enter the hollow stem member B which is to be placed upon the member A. This member B is set on top of the member A and by pulling down on the rod 19 the ballbearing end draws the member to its centralized positions. The article is then assembled ready for soldering and the turntable is then used to turn the article which is however, held centrally by the pins 10. Y

,The turntable may be held from turning if desired by the eccentric clamp 23V mounted on one of the standards 15. ,j

The four-pin arrangementshown in Figure 6will readily centre circular or square articles, while Ythe arrangement shown in In yFigures 3 and 4 a f,

Figure 7 is particularly devised to hold elliptical-shaped articles.

Various forms of articlesrequire the placing of feet and to facilitate the proper spacing and placing of these a jig as shown in Figures 8 and 9 is attached to the rod 19. This jig is formed of a central hub member 24 upon which are pivotally mounted the radially arranged and. longitudinally slotted arms25'. Y

Blocks 26 are slidably mounted in the slotted arms and are .secured in adjustedpositions' by the thumb screws 27. Cross pins 28 mounted in the blocks 26 carry the guide pins' 29 against which the feet or other attachments C'areplaced.' 'These are'held in position by spring-held fingers 30 pivotally mounted ina central slot in each block.

The operatorlifts the pivotal arms 25 and pressing back the finger 30 inserts the attachment 'C to abutthe guide pins 29 and upon releasing the linger 30 it springs into place and holds the article securely. Y Short `rod members 30 suitably secured in the blocks 26 extend. downward to engage4 and support the'attachment C at the opposite side to the linger 3Oandl preferably slightly above the point of contact yof the finger 30. The members 29, 30 and 30 thus Vpositively position andhold the attachment C. When all the articles C are thus placed the rod 19 is raised,*and the base or ring D to which the legs are to be secured is placed on the table between the pins and centred. The rod 19 is then pressed down till the attachments C engage same and they are then soldered quite expeditiously as the turntable can be revolved and the jig carrying the legs C turns with it on the ball-bearing support. n

The jig shown in Figure 10 is precisely the sameas that illustrated in Figures 8 and 9 except that the arms are not radial but are arranged to hold the attachments forv placing on an oval base.

These jigs permit a great latitude of adjustment by reason of the slotted arms and blocks adjustable therein. j

The device shown in Figure 11 is merelyV a holder for holding the slotted arms of the jig shown in Figure l() raised, the spring clips 31 engaging the arms when raised to extend into the notches 32.

The device is extremely simple in construction and is operated with great ease and .ce-` lerity andenables an ordinary operator to greatly increase the quantity of production of any form of article which may be'assernbled" thereon and in addition to effecting a great saving in cost of production it facilitates more accurate work.

Further, the device permits of a very wide rangel of adjustment fora great variety of sizes of articles and it can be adaptedpractically instantaneously to handling articles of greatly differing dimensions.

porting means to facilitate operation of the device.

2. In a. device tor positioning a plurality ot parts in assembled relation, the combination with means for supporting one of said parts, of means including a vertically slidable support rod for temporarily supporting the remaining part or parts in positioned relation to the first mentioned part, a counterbalance tension spring connected with said vertically slidable rod, and adjustable means engaging said spring to control its counterbalancing influence.

3. In a device for positioning a plurality of parts in assembled relation, the combination with means for supporting one of said parts, spaced upright guide members, a cross frame slidably mounted on said guide members, means for securing said cross frame in adjusted positions on said guides, a rod slidably mounted in said cross trame, means removably mounted on said rod for temporarily supporting the remaining article or articles in predetermined positioned relation to the first-mentioned member, and spring means connected with said cross trame and slidable rod for substantially counterbalancing the temporary supporting means and rod.

il. In a device for positioning a plurality of parts in assembled relation, the combination with means for supporting one of said parts, of a rod slidably mounted, a head rotatably mounted on one end of said rod, means detacliably secured to said rotatable =A head for temporarily supporting the remaining part or parts in positive positioned relation to the iirst mentioned part, said latter means being detachable from said rotatably mounted head to permit ready replacement thereoiu by another, and means for facilitating longitudinal sliding of said rod.

5. In a device i'or positioning a plurality ot parts in assembled relation, the combination With means for supporting one of said parts, of spaced upright guide members, a cross frame slidably mounted on said guide members, means `for securing said cross frame in adjusted positions on said guides, a rod slidably mounted in said cross trame, means removably mounted on said rod for temporarily supporting the remaining article or articles in predetermined positioned relation to the iirst-mentioned member, and an adjustable spring suspension member supported from said cross trame and connected to the upper end 'of said Irod to support it and thev parts, o'a jig adj ustably mounted, a plurality of blocks adjustably mounted on said jig, stop members adjustably mounted in said block each adapted to contact a different one of the remaining parts, and spring actuated holding members mounted one on each of said blocks for holding the remaining parts against their respective stop-members to position the same in predetermined angular relation relative to each other and to said lirstmentioned part.

7. In a device for positioning a plurality ot parts in assembled relation, the combination with means for supporting one of said parts, ot means for temporarily supporting the remaining parts in predetermined spaced relation and in positioned relation to the first-mentioned part, saidl latter means including aiplurality of rela-tively adjustable gripping devices each presenting a plurality ot spaced positioning contacts Wit-h a respective one of said remaining parts to determine its angular disposition to the remaining parts.

8. In a device for positioning a plurality of parts in assembled relation, the combination ith means for centering one of said parts, of a jig adjustably mounted on an axis concentrically of the axis ot the centered part, said jig liaving'means tor holding the remaining parts individually in spaced relation to each other *sont said central airis to position same in accurately spaced relation on the first-mentioned part, said jig means comprising a plurality of gripping units relatively adjustable toward or away from each other and to the first-mentioned positioned part to determine the relative location of all of said parts.

9. In a device for positioning a plurality of parts in assembled relation, the combi ation with means for supporting one oi"- id parts, of a jig adjustably mounted, said jig comprising a-bloclr having a plurality of arms extending therefrom, and means mount-- ed on' said arms and adjustable toward or away fromeach other relative to each ot' said arms for individually gripping the respective remaining parts to determine the angular relation of said last-mentioned parts With each other and with said first-mentioned part.

10. In a device for positioning a plurality of parts in assembled relation, the combination with means for supporting one of said parts, o a iig adjustably mounted, said jig` comprising a block having a plurality of arms extending therefrom, each slotted longitudinally from the end inwardly, and

holding devices adjustably mounted one inV the slot of each armV and each adapted to hold a respective one of the remaining parts in accurately spaced and predetermined an- 7 gular relation to the others and to position the same on said first-mentioned part, said holding devices being adjustable in their respective slots to determine the spacing of the respective parts held thereby in accordance 162 Witlti the shape or size of the first-mentioned par 11. In ka device for positioning a plurality of parts in assembled relation, the combination with means for supporting one of said parts, ofva jig adjustablv mounted, said jig comprising a blockl having a plurality of arms extending therefrom, and means adjustable relative to said armsfor gripping the remaining parts and supportingthe same T in spaced relation to each other and in accurate relation to the first-mentioned part, said arms being disposed in substantial radial relation and each hinged to said block whereby they may be swung upwardly to facilitate placing of the parts to be held in said holding devices. v

.12. In a device for positioning a plurality of parts in` assembled relation, the combination with means for supporting one of said parts, of a jig adjustably mounted, said jig comprisingv a block having a plurality of arms extending therefrom,- means adjust-- able relative to said arms for gripping the remaining parts and supporting the'same in spaced relation vto each other and in accu-v raterelation to the first-mentioned part, said arms being pivotally connected to said block to be swung upwardly, and holding means for gripping said arms to support same in 40 their raised position. Y

13. ln a device for positioning a plurality of parts in assembled relation, the combination with means for supporting one of said parts, of a jig adjustably mounted, saidijig comprising a block having a plurality of -arms extending therefrom, means adjustable relative to said arms for gripping the remaining parts and supporting the same in spaced relation to each other and in accurate relation to the first-mentioned part, said arms being pivoted to swing upwardly, and a plurality of spring clips co-operating with said arms for holding same in their raised position to facilitate placing of said parts in j said gripping means.

PERCY WILLIAM HAYWOOD. 

